The Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team is on the road for the fourth of six straight road games to open the season, facing West Chester University on Sunday, November 21, 2021 at Hollinger Field House in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
 

The Basics
		Chestnut Hill Info (2-1)
Date:	November 21, 2021
		Roster
Opponent:	West Chester University	Schedule
		Statistics
Location:	West Chester, Pa..
		West Chester Info (1-2)
Time:	1:00 p.m.
		Roster
Arena:	Hollinger Field House	Schedule
		Statistics
Video:	https://psacsportsdigitalnetwork.com/wcupagoldenrams/
Livestats:	https://wcupagoldenrams.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary

 
 
The Series:
Wednesday's contest will be third meeting between these two teams and the first since the Griffins played in WCU's Carol Eckman Tournament at the start of the 2009-2010 season.   The Golden Rams have won both previous meetings, including the Carol Eckman Tournament game in 2009, 81-51.  The two games between Chestnut Hill and West Chester were both played at Hollinger Field House.

About the Griffins:
The Griffins enter Sunday's game with a 2-1 record after defeating Millersville, 66-45 Wednesday night at MU's Pucillo Gymnasium.  Chestnut Hill held the Marauders to their lowest point total in four years while placing three players in double figures.

Head Coach Jim Connolly enters his third season at the helm of the Griffins having produced an 11-18 mark in 2019-20 and a berth in the CACC Championship Tournament Quarterfinals, and not having played last season

Chestnut Hill returns all five starters from the 19-20 squad, led by senior point guard Cassie Sebold.  Sebold led the team, averaging 13.3 points per game and a league-leading 5.0 assists per game.   She has been a starter in each of the Griffins past two seasons, and is currently ranked among the Griffins top ten all time in eight different statistical categories from points scored and assists to three-point field goals made and attempted.

Junior Lauren Crim and senior Abbey Spratt return to join Sebold in the backcourt for 21-22.  Crim averaged 13.1 points per game in 2019-20 while making a team-high 83 three-point field goals.  Spratt started in 28 games last season, averaging 22 minutes a game and dishing out 56 assists while producing a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio, the best on the team in 2019-20.

In the front court senior Leah Miller and junior Lindsey Lane round out the five returning starters.  Miller was the squad's leading rebounder, averaging 8.6 boards per game while scoring at an 11.0 points/game clip.  Miller also had 30 blocked shots on the season. Lane averaged 21.5 minutes per game as a freshman in 19-20 playing in all 29 games for the Griffins.  At 5-11 Lane is one of six players on this year's squad listed at 5-10 or taller.

Rounding out this year's key returnees is senior Bri Hewlett. Hewlett played in all 29 games in 2019-20 averaging 18.9 minutes per game.  The 5-10 forward averaged 7.3 points per game and 4.0 rebounds/game and was a solid free throw shooter at 85.3% and three-point shooter (40%).

Several newcomers will provide plenty of depth for Connolly's squad.  Freshman Emily Chmiel, a 6-2 product out of Central Bucks East High School has great size and the ability to score the ball.  Kaitlyn Carter, a second-year student who was part of the program in 2020-21 that did not play, will provide height at 5-11 and plays solid defense that should help the program.

Last time Out
 A solid defensive effort by the Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team produced their second win in as many games as they held host Millersville University to their lowest scoring output in four years, defeating the Marauders 66-45 at MU's Pucillo Gymnasium Wednesday night.

The Griffins improve to 2-1 with the win while Millersville falls to 1-2. 

Emily Chmiel came off the bench to lead all scorers with 18 points (7-9 FG, 4-4 FT).   Morgan Orloski added 11 points while Cassie Sebold chipped in ten and had a game-high seven assists.  Leah Miller and Kaitlyn Carter led the Griffins with seven rebounds apiece.

Miller Named to CACC Weekly Honor Roll
 Leah Miller was named to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Basketball Weekly Honor Roll for her performance in the Griffins two games last weekend at the ECC/CACC Challenge at Queens College.

Miller scored 22 points and grabbed six rebounds in Sunday's game against host Queens College.  The senior forward connected on nine of 16 shots from the field and added four more points from the free throw line.  Miller scored six of her 22 points in the final quarter as the Griffins rallied to earn a four-point 71-67 win.

In the opening game of the tournament on Saturday, Miller had ten points and four rebounds.  She also added a block, a steal and two assists while making five of nine shots from the field.

For the week, Miller averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  She made 14 of 25 shots for a 56% field goal percentage and was 4-for-5 from the free throw line (80%).

An  Impressive Debut
Freshman Emily Chmiel came off the bench on Saturday to score 10 points and grab a team high nine rebounds in the Griffins 66-51 loss to Molloy.  The 6-2 freshman also had three blocks and two steals against the Lions.  Chmiel was the Griffins top rebounder the next day grabbing seven boards in CHC's win over Queens while scoring 13 points. 
  
Scouting the Golden Rams
West Chester is currently 1-2 on the season, following a split of their two games hosting the Carol Eckman Tournament at Hollinger Field house on opening weekend and a loss at Lincoln University on Wednesday

Through the Golden Rams first three games, Leah Johnson, the lone returning all-conference player of the WCU squad, currently ranks sixth in the league in points per game, averaging 20.3 points per contest while also ranking eighth in the league in assists per game and first in the league in steals.  The Golden Rams' offense ranks eighth in the league in points per game (69.7) and seventh in field goal percentage (43.7 %). West Chester also ranks within the top five in the PSAC in blocks (4.37/G-fifth) and steals (9.33/G-fifth) through the first three games of the 2021-22 campaign.

West Chester is being outrebounded by an average of 6.0 per game (38.3 vs. 44.3) and are giving up an average of 74.3 points per game 4.7 more than they are producing offensively.  Opponents are shooting 40.7% from the field against the Golden Rams

Last Time Out for West Chester
West Chester's comeback effort fell short as Lincoln handed the Golden Rams a 67-61 defeat Wednesday night at Lincoln's Manuel Rivero Gym to fall to 1-2 on the season.
The golden Rams trailed by 11 after one quarter and slowly chipped away at the Lions lead, tying the game in the third quarter.  Lincoln went on a 10-0 run to push the lead back up to double digits.  The Golden Rams rallied to pull within two in the fourth quarter in the final minute but were forced to foul and Lincoln made four straight from the line to seal the win.
Leah Johnson led the Golden Rams with 18 points while Alexis Gleason chipped in 11.